Collagen, as a protein for strengthening the connective tissues of human beings, finds ever expanding applications in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical fields.
The main properties are as follows:
good mechanical properties, PA1 action on cell development, hence on tissue regeneration, PA1 hemostatic power, PA1 excellent biocompatibility, PA1 biodegradability, PA1 natural support improving bioavailability towards numerous active agents. PA1 solution for cosmetics, PA1 solution for making artificial skin, PA1 hemostatic sponge, PA1 healing dressings, PA1 bone-reconstruction material, PA1 protection capsules against active agents and improvement of their bioavailability, PA1 biomaterials in solid or liquid form for filling flabby tissues.
Owing to its remarkable qualities, said protein has contributed to the production of numerous biomaterials for which the market is continuously expanding.
Among the many collagen-based preparations, the main ones seem to be as follows:
When reading the foregoing list, which is in no way exhaustive, it is easy to realize that collagen is bound to become a substance of great industrial importance.
Collagen materials will be developed all that quicker as their cost price reduces.
This is the reason why the inventors have tried to use new sources of collagen with a view to implementing the industrial methods, improving yields, hence reducing the costs of preparation of the protein.
At present, the tissue mainly used for obtaining collagen is calf skin.
But two difficulties are met when using this base material.
Firstly, the skin is not, in general, removed in perfectly hygienic conditions, which implies having to use the skin as soon as possible after the animal is slaughtered.
Secondly, the skin must undergo an important treatment for removing the hairs and subcutaneous tissues. Such treatment is carried out in tanning installations implying the construction of a workshop independent from the site where the collagen is transformed into biomaterials. This type of infrastructure requires relatively high investments which will reflect on the cost of the obtained collagen.
Moreover, although calf skin is a tissue from a very young animal, it furnishes relatively small quantities of acid-soluble collagen, about 12 g of dry protein for 1 kg of fresh skin.
In order to avoid as much as possible having to treat the skin, and to improve extraction yields, the inventors have had the idea of using unpigmented fish skin.
The inventors have indeed found that pigmented fish skin is not suitable because the pigment is very difficult to eliminate during the collagen preparation process. The protein obtained in this case leads to the production of impure pigmented biomaterials.
The inventors have therefore turned their attention to fish whose skin is unpigmented and available in large quantities. The species falling in that catagory are flat fish, particularly those fished on an industrial basis such as sole, dab, turbot, brill, which are subjected to a filleting or cutting operation. The ventral skin of these fish is unpigmented, it is available, scaled, in large quantities.